


Playground Rules

by EzzyDean



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9427175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: Yuuji and Daichi got playground married when they were seven and eight, respectively.Yuuji moved away not long after.When he finally moves back after almost 9 years things don't exactly go smoothly for him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ryekamasaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryekamasaki/gifts).



> I had an idea for an au where instead of the usual "3rd years are the 1st/2nd years parents" I have the 3rd years as kids and the 1st/2nd years as their guardians/teachers/etc. This is set in that au when some of those kids have grown up.
> 
> Just for reference for this fic: Ennoshita is Daichi's dad, Akaashi is Morisuke and Yukie's dad (and Yuuji is his nephew).

_ The ceremony had been beautiful.  Surrounded by friends and laughter.  Sunshine bright in the sky.  Flower petals floating in the air and sticking in their hair. _

_ Wakatoshi had presided over the ceremony, serious voice carrying through the small backyard with ease. _

_ Asahi, a crown of flowers in his messy brown hair, had handed each of them a small handful of flowers from Kyoutani’s garden - picked with permission of course. _

_ Kyoutani’s backyard was decorated for the event.  Paper chains and colorful decorations and flower arrangements made of sticks and leaves glued together. _

_ Koushi brought the rings forward solemnly.  They were sitting on a small golden pillow Noya had helped him sew. _

_ Yui and Tetsurou took the bouquets from the grooms with blinding smiles in place: their best friends were getting married after all. _

_ Daichi slid one of the pipe cleaner and pompom rings onto Yuuji’s finger and then straighted his bow tie nervously when Yuuji reached out for the second ring. _

_ Yuuji slid his ring onto Daichi’s finger with a grin. _

_ “You may now kiss,” Wakatoshi announced.  Yuuji pressed his lips to Daichi’s cheek and everyone laughed and cheered for them. _

  
  


 

Yuuji takes the hinged picture frame out of his bag carefully and sets it on the desk.  It’s one of his most treasured - and silliest - memories.  The left frame has a handmade certificate - a declaration of playground marriage between himself and the love of his seven year old self’s life, Daichi, that was made and signed by Nishinoya, their art teacher.  The right frame is a little collage of pictures of the Ducklings, the group of kids that a few of the day care providers and teachers in the area he grew up in watched fairly regularly.  They were all kids whose parents or guardians had unusual work hours or worked a lot and needed some extra help with childcare.  Sometimes he misses that easy friendship of his childhood.

A knock on his door startles him out of his thoughts and he gives his cousin a grin when he spots her leaning against his door frame.

“Hey, Yukie.  What’s up?”

“I was sent to see if you’re finished unpacking and if you are we can go shopping.  I still have a few things to pick up for school and Morisuke’s whining about needing new shoes for volleyball.”

“I am not whining about anything.”  Morisuke yells down the hallway.  “You’re just being dramatic as usual.”

Yuuji tosses his empty bag in the closet and gestures to Yukie.  “Just finished, actually.  After you, dear sweet cousin.”

She smiles.  “Yeah it’s not working on me.  Whatever you want you have to ask dad for money for if you don’t have enough.”

He laughs and lets her hook her arm around his to drag him to the entryway so they can slip on their shoes.  As much as the last few months have sucked and as hectic as he’s sure it’s going to be - because it’s always hectic when he and Yukie and Morisuke are around each other - he’s happy to be home and with family he knows cares about him.  He’s excited to start school in a couple days and he’s determined to make the best, and most, out of where he is now.  

 

It’s a fresh new start and he’s ready for it.

 

Which is why he goes to meet Morisuke outside the gym after volleyball tryouts the first day of school and promptly hops over the low wall outside the gym and crouches down to hide behind it because of course Daichi is inside.  Of course the boy he had a crush on and got playground married to when he was seven is at this school.

  
  


**TO: (W ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ**

fuck fuck fukc fuck fuckety fukcnn fuck

**FROM: (W ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ**

dude.  chill

**TO: (W ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ**

Tetsu you don’t understand he’s here he’s right fucking here he’s like 15 feet away from me.

 

His phone rings and he answers it immediately.

“Okay one: calm down.  Two: who are you even talking about?”

“Daichi,” Yuuji hisses.

Tetsurou’s braying donkey laugh fills Yuuji’s ear and he whimpers, banging his head lightly against the low wall he’s hiding behind until Tetsurou has to stop to breathe.  He still sounds like he’s cackling and maybe crying a little.  Honestly.  Yuuji’s the one who wants to cry.  He peeks back over the wall to see if maybe he was just imagining things.  He’s in a new school, back in town for the first time in nearly a decade, maybe his brain was just making someone who looked similar to what he thinks Daichi would have grown up to look like look more like him as a form of comfort or something.

Nope.

That is definitely Ennoshita Daichi in the flesh.

In the very toned, very healthy, very sleeveless shirted and attractive flesh.

“I just, holy shit,” Tetsurou giggles.  “What did he say when he saw you?”

“Nothing.  Because he didn’t see me I’m hiding behind the wall outside the gym and he’s inside it at volleyball tryouts.”

“Yuuji.”

“No, Tetsurou.”

“Coward.”

“Asshole.”

“You know that’s not exactly school ground appropriate language.”  Yuuji yelps when Morisuke’s voice comes from above him and he tilts his head back to look at his cousin leaning over the wall.  “I’m not even going to ask why you’re down there.  Are you ready to go?”

“Hey Morisuke’s done I’ll message you later Tetsu.”  He smiles at his cousin and hops to his feet, back most definitely to the gym just in case.  “I’m ready whenever you are.”

“You know I’m just going to accept the fact that you’re weird and leave it at that.”

“That would be best thank you.”

The walk home is, thankfully, silent and not nearly as awkward as Yuuji expects it to be.  Morisuke is already sporting a few marks that are going to be bruises but he wears them proudly, the badges of a libero, Yuuji figures.

“So what all did you have to do at tryouts anyway?”  They’re sitting at the table skimming through their reading lists and first days worth of homework.  If Morisuke is surprised that Yuuji’s asking he doesn’t mention it.  “I mean you’re a second year and already on the team.  You’re the starting libero, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So what did you have to do for tryouts?  Just kind of watch or…?”

Morisuke glances at his Maths homework and shoves it aside happily to prop his elbows on the table.  He explains the tryout procedures and how he helped by receiving serves and spikes and observing the defensive strengths of the current team and the new members and, as the only libero at the moment, met up with the captain and vice-captain and coach to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the guys trying out.

“Though Daichi is really strong in terms of defense, one of the most solid receivers including me, so I’m really not sure what input he needed from me.”

Yuuji does not turn bright red at Daichi’s name.  Though it’s close.

“Daichi?”  He’s pretty sure his voice doesn’t squeak.  But he wouldn’t make any bets on it.

“Oh, yeah.  Ennoshita Daichi.  He’s our captain this year.”  Morisuke grins at Yuuji and for a moment he panics, sure that Morisuke knows somehow even though he and Yukie were never Ducklings and as far as he knew never knew anything about that time in Yuuji’s life.  “You should come by to practice sometime.  Especially near the end.  You’d get a kick out of it.  The third years get so weird after a long day.  At our last practice before school started up again Daichi was, like, trying to bench press all us smaller team members.  He managed with me but when he tried Moniwa it didn’t work cause Moniwa’s so ticklish.”

“I’ll, uh, consider it.”

He does consider it.  He considers it that night while he tries to fall asleep with images of Daichi’s biceps flexing in his head.  He considers it when he wakes up from memory filled dreams about Daichi visiting when they were kids and playing with Yuuji’s dog Snuffles while they held hands and seriously discussed the weather and did whatever else they imagined married people did.  He considers it while he half listens to his teachers talk about stuff he learned last year in school - and some of it on his own.  He considers it while he pokes and picks at his lunch - his uncle stuffed it with way too much food and he didn’t really like most of it but Yuuji didn’t have the heart, or courage, to tell him that.

He considers it while he peeks over the top of the low wall outside the gym and watches through the open door for glimpses of Daichi and sends Tetsurou messages that no doubt has his friend dying from laughter.  Daichi is even more solid and muscular than Yuuji had imagined him being; volleyball is good for him it seems.  His laughter is still the same.  It still shakes Yuuji to his core and lights up something warm in his chest that he wants to curl up with and keep forever.  His grin, when Yuuji catches a glimpse of it, still makes Yuuji feel like he can do anything even when it’s not directed at him.  His serious tone when he scolds some of his team for goofing off sends shocks of memories nearly forgotten through Yuuji and he sinks to the ground with his back to the wall and gets a little lost in his memories.

 

For all the time that he spent away from home Yuuji was still incredibly happy.  He spent more time with one of the Duckling adults than he did his own father most weeks but that was okay.  He almost always had friends around him and he loved being able to stay overnight at Kyoutani’s house because Kyoutani let them sleep outside under the stars in the summer and they’d build blanket forts inside during the winter.  Going over to Tetsurou’s house was the second best thing to do when Yuuji’s dad wasn’t around.  Second best to Kyoutani’s mostly only because he didn’t have a dog cause his dad was allergic to them, and Kyoutani had three.

There were always games with the Ducklings and craft projects and neat things to learn and fun food to eat and it was just an amazing time for seven year old Yuuji (even before he got playground hitched to the love of his life and afterward it was just a million times better to be able to hold Daichi’s hand and pet dogs next to him.)

But then his dad had moved them away and he lost contact with all of them except Tetsurou, who had actually moved just a few months after him.  They somehow grew even closer after moving away to different cities.  Yuuji’s pretty sure it was because they were both the new weird transfer kid of their respective schools and that kind of drove them to cling to each other.  It worked out in the end though cause Tetsurou is the best friend Yuuji could ever ask for, even when he’s laughing himself to tears because of Yuuji.

 

“Why are you down there again?”  Morisuke is folded over the low wall that Yuuji is still sitting against and Yuuji chokes in surprise and shoves his phone, with the dozen messages from Tetsurou laughing about his ridiculous crush on Daichi in very bold text still on the the screen, into his bag.

“I just felt like sitting,” he replies easily before hopping to his feet.  “Time to go already?”

Morisuke studies him on their walk home and as they turn the last corner he slows until he stops and Yuuji looks back at him in concern.

“You know you don’t have to wait for me right?  You can go home as soon as school is over if you want.  No one is going to be upset with you or anything.”  Morisuke scratches his head.  “I mean you don’t need dad’s or our permission to just go home.  You have it if you feel like you need it but it’s your home now too.”  He grumbles and scrubs at his face while 

Yuuji just stares at him.  He’s pretty sure he knows what Morisuke is trying to tell him and why he’s being so cautious about it.  But it’s kind of fun to watch him being the one squirming uncomfortably for once - Morisuke usually has such a level head that it drives Yuuji up the wall - so he just lets him fumble around for a few minutes longer until he finally takes pity on his cousin.

“I know it’s cool if I just leave.  I just feel more comfortable coming home together.  I don’t mind waiting.  I might this winter but for now it’s perfectly comfortable.  I promise.”

Morisuke’s eyes widen a little and then he gives Yuuji an understanding smile.

“Whatever floats your boat.  Just don’t come whining to me if you get leg cramps from sitting in weird positions outside the gym all the time.”  He brushes past Yuuji and pats his arm.  “You know it wouldn’t kill you to come inside the gym.”

 

It might kill him, Yuuji decides a week later as he watches from the second floor of the library as Daichi and a few teammates head from the school to the gym.

“He’s hot now, Tetsu.  Like super fucking hot,” Yuuji whispers as he watches Daichi laugh at something and clap whoever was next to him on the shoulder.  Tetsurou cackles like usual and Yuuji glances around to make sure no one is nearby.  He doesn’t think anyone will care too much since almost no one uses the library during the day, let alone after school.  “You don’t understand.  He wears glasses sometimes and smiles like an angel and plays sports and he has these thighs and I want to cry when I see him in shorts.  Or pants.  Or anything.”

“Or nothing,” Tetsu retorts.  Then he huffs into the phone at the pout he knows is on Yuuji’s face.  “Hey, Yuuji, come on.  You’re already married to the guy.  Just go and sweep him off his feet, just like when we were seven.”

“You don’t understand.  He’s built like a brick wall.  I don’t know if I can even lift all that muscle mass.”

“So jump into his manly arms and let him carry you off into the sunset.”

“Why are we even friends?”

“Because you love me and I gave you my purple crayon when we were three and didn’t even tell on you when you ate it.”

“That is true.”

Yuuji watches Daichi climb the steps to the second floor volleyball clubroom and unlock it.  He spots Morisuke saying something and Daichi claps his hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter, and Yuuji sighs.  Then he yelps softly and drops his head to the table when Daichi turns to glance towards the library windows.

  
  


It’s three weeks into the school year and Yuuji is finally going to do it.  He’s going to stop being a wuss and go up and say hello.  He’s not sure if he’s more worried about the idea that Daichi won’t have the slightest memory of who he is and all the weird crushy pining he’s been doing the last eight years will just be creepy as fuck or if he’s worried about the idea that Daichi will remember him and remember their little playground marriage and make fun of him for it and the pining will still be creepy and weird.  The best outcome he’s hoping for is that Daichi remembers him but that’s it.  Nothing too specific just ‘oh yeah we hung out when we were little’ and that’s that.

He stares down at the library table for a moment, steeling himself, and sighs.  One good thing about staying after to wait for his cousin is that if nothing else he’s getting a lot of his homework done and he’s not really falling behind at all.  In fact it’s been pretty easy to keep up with his classes and he’s not sure if he has the teachers, all the time spent in the library, or his current home environment to thank for that.  It’s nice though.  He packs his bag up about the time he thinks they should be doing their cooling down stretches and figures he should be able to make it either just before they head up to change or, if not, he can just wait for Morisuke by the stairs to the clubroom.  Instead of cowering behind the low wall nearby like, well, a coward.  

A light mist is just starting to form when he leaves the building the library is in and he jogs down towards the gym, trying to remember if Morisuke brought an umbrella with him that morning or not.  He doesn’t let himself think about what he’s doing, he knows he’ll just talk himself out of it if he does, and he steps into the open doorway, shaking what little bit of mist manages to cling to him off, and nearly trips over his feet because ten feet straight in front of him is Daichi bent over in a stretch and Yuuji thinks he might have just bitten his tongue off in his haste to snap his mouth shut when he realizes it’s hanging open.  This all happens in about three seconds and then Daichi straightens up and calls out something Yuuji doesn’t hear because holy shit he has it bad and he can’t keep his eyes off the way Daichi’s practice shirt is sticking to his back as he waves towards the stands.

Yuuji’s just about to call out - to Daichi or Morisuke he’s not sure which - when Daichi’s name rings out from the stands.

Yuuji’s head whips around and he spots the owner of the voice hopping over the last row of seats and jogging up to Daichi.

“Hey, Yui.”  Daichi laughs when she punches him in the shoulder in greeting.  Daichi is even crueler to Yuuji this close.  His voice is so clear and crisp and it reminds Yuuji of crunchy leaves in the fall and his laugh is rumbling thunder in the distance.

“You left without me again this morning,” she says, slapping Daichi’s head lightly and the scrubbing her hand through his short, no doubt sweaty hair.  “Dad says that if you don’t come over for dinner some time soon he’s gonna murder you.  Just so you know.”

Daichi’s rumbling laughter twists Yuuji’s gut and he takes a couple steps back.  It was a stupid idea.  Of course Daichi has a girlfriend who is just as fiery and bouncy and friendly as Daichi himself is.  It was dumb to even imagine that Daichi would remember him and the promises they had made as children.

“Yuuji?”  Morisuke’s voice freezes him on the spot and suddenly the entire gym is staring out the door at him.  “The hell?  Get your ass out of the rain you idiot come here.”  Morisuke stomps over and grabs his wrist to drag him into the gym.  He stands just inside the door, dripping onto the floor and wondering when the light mist had turned into a steady rain and why he hadn’t realized he was standing in it.

“He okay?”  Daichi asks Morisuke and his cousin sighs and throws a towel over his head.  Oh yeah.  That’s why.  Stupid Daichi and his stupid smile and stupid voice and stupid entire being.

“Yeah,” Morisuke replies.  Yuuji bends down so Morisuke can start rubbing the towel over his hair.  A little rougher than necessary but that’s just how his cousin is sometimes.  “He’s just kind of distracted sometimes lately.  He’s had a long year.”   Yuuji hears Daichi direct the rest of the team to head off and get changed and whatever other end of practice stuff he normally does but he’s focused on letting Morisuke tug off his backpack without twisting his shoulders strangely and then not tripping over his own feet when Morisuke pushes him to the bench.

He should feel mortified over shutting down like this in front of Daichi.  It’s embarrassing as hell and he can already hear Tetsurou’s laughter - after he’s sure Yuuji is okay that is.  But really all he can focus on is the water that managed to get under his shirt and is slowly rolling down his spine and Morisuke’s shoes between his feet.

“Is this your cousin?  The one you said was moving in just before school started?”

Daichi’s voice is soft, considerate, but there’s not the edge of pity or irritation that Yuuji expects.

“Oh yeah.”  This voice is even softer.   _ Her _ .  “I remember you mentioning a cousin.”

Morisuke stops drying his hair and tugs the towel off his head without answering them.  His attention is focused on Yuuji and Yuuji isn’t sure if that’s better or worse.  “Daichi and I are gonna go change, okay Yuuji?  Then we can head home.”

Yuuji nods, eyes still on the floor, and Morisuke’s shoes disappear from his sight.  After a minute of listening to each other breathe the toes of a new pair of shoes sneak into view.  Not as close as Morisuke’s had been but close enough that he can’t reasonably ignore them.

“Yuuji?”  Her voice is kind and he wants to make an effort for it.  But he feels stupid right now.  She takes another step closer and then crouches down so she can glance at his face.  “Terushima Yuuji?”  His eyes snap up and he feels his breath catch in his throat.  “It is you, isn’t it?”

The memory of flowers from Kyoutani’s garden and paper chains and smiles so wide they hurt fills his mind.

He blinks at her.

“Watari Yui,” she answers the question he can’t quite ask.  “We were Ducklings together.”

A millions things he should say fly through his head but he can’t make any of them happen and it’s a relief when Morisuke calls to him from the doorway.

“I have to go,” Yuuji says quietly.

“Okay,” Yui replies with a soft smile.  “Maybe we can talk later.”

“Maybe,” he replies absently as he stands and pulls his bag back on.

  
  


He doesn’t crash and burn, which he supposes he should be thankful for.  His doesn’t fail his exam the next day, he doesn’t cower away in his room, he doesn’t really mope or whine or anything that he notices and none of his family says anything, though Morisuke watches him carefully the next few days and Yukie gives him a portion of her dessert after lunch that weekend and Uncle Keiji makes sure they watch Yuuji’s favorite movie during family movie night.  So he knows he’s being a little spoiled but none of them really make it about him in an entirely obvious way.  Which he appreciates.

“You good to wait for me after practice?  Or do you just want me to come fetch you from the library?  Hell you know if you wanted you could just find Yukie and walk home with her.”

They’re pulling out their stuff for their first class.  Yuuji had been so thankful when he found out he and Morisuke were in the same class before school started.  Now, as much as he loves his cousin, he’s starting to wonder if a little more space wouldn’t have been a bad thing.

“I’ll be okay.  Promise.”

He still hadn’t told Morisuke why he had panicked so much.  He had spilled it all to Tetsurou that night once he managed to change into dry clothes and his best friend had convinced him that it wasn’t the end of the world.  Before he laughed so hard that Yuuji still thinks he pulled a muscle or something.

Morisuke looks like he wants to say something but, thankfully, class starts and Yuuji is left alone.  He gets away from it at lunch too because someone from the team rushes into the classroom and drags Morisuke off for something.  Morisuke has to leave right after class is over to head to practice while Yuuji is on clean up duty which nets him a couple more hours of peace.  Which he plans on using in the library to get started on his History essay.  It’s not due for a few weeks but he knows himself and knows the sooner he starts the better off he’ll be in the end.

He’s already so focused on what he’s going to be writing as he skims the book he grabbed for research that he turns the corner of the aisle back to his table without looking and runs straight into someone.

“Sorry,” he squeaks in surprise, dropping the book and grabbing the person to keep them from falling.  “Are you okay?”

A familiar laugh sounds and he tenses.

“Terushima,” Yui laughs softly.  “Hi.”

“Um.  Hi.”  He makes sure she’s steady and then grabs his book from the floor and retreats to his table.  It takes everything in him to keep himself from shoving everything in his bag and running away.  Especially when he hears someone approaching and he just knows it’s her.

“Terushima,” she says again and he winces.

“Yuuji.”  He doesn’t snap but he feels like it’s a close thing.  “Please call me Yuuji,” he amends, softer.

“Call me Yui.”  She smiles at him and he feels some of the tension starting to seep from him.  “You feeling okay today?  You didn’t get sick from that rain or anything did you?”

He feels like she’s asking something else too and he drops back into his chair at the table.

“I’m okay.  I just.  Like Morisuke said.  I’ve had a long year.  Some things that probably shouldn’t bother me just kind of hit me weird.”

“That’s fine,” she says, “you don’t have to explain anything you don’t want to.  I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

“I’m still getting there,” he admits.  “But I’m gonna be okay.”  He doesn’t know why he says it, why he admits it, even as vaguely as he does, but he feels a little better for it.  Something about Yui must be magic, he thinks as he cautiously gestures for her to take the seat across from him.

They don’t really talk after that.  Yui pulls out some homework and Yuuji starts taking notes for his essay and they work in companionable silence.  Yuuji is near the end of the section in the last of the books he had collected when there’s a knock on the table that startles him.

Morisuke grins down at him and Yuuji glances out the window and then leans back in his chair to check the clock, surprised to see that practice ended over fifteen minutes ago.  He apologizes as he packs his stuff up, surprised at the empty space across from him mostly because he didn’t notice Yui leave, and rolls his eyes at Morisuke’s teasing about making him come pick him up in the library like the nerd he is.

When they get home and he pulls out his notes to go back through them before supper he finds a piece of paper tucked into one of his other notebooks and pulls it out.

_ Thanks for letting me share your table.  Don’t worry I won’t bug you now that I know where you are or anything.  Just know that if you ever need someone I’m usually in the second gym or the photography club clubroom after school. _

 

He doesn’t seek Yui out and true to her word she leaves him alone too.  He smiles politely when he sees her and she waves at him but that’s about it.  He’s still a little wary about becoming friends with the girl dating the guy he playground married when he was seven and still had a bit of a crush on.  Tetsurou calls him a wimp and he tells Tetsurou to go fuck himself.  He passes exams and turns in homework and does his best not to linger around the gym door watching practice.  When the librarian is out sick for the day and the library is closed after school he finally lets his curiosity get the best of him and he heads over to the second gym to see what Yui is up to.

He promptly decides that she could crush him without having to think about it and sends Tetsurou a message saying as much.

 

**FROM: (W ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ**

wait Watari Yui?  the tiny little pixie thing that used to threaten to bite me

**TO: (W ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ**

and used to tell you to fight her for ownership of Pluffing the stuffed walrus? yes

**FROM: (W ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ**

so she’s just as frightening now as she was then.  good to know

 

He laughs and tucks his phone back in his bag, just getting ready to turn back and head over to the other gym to wait for Morisuke when Yui calls out to him and he freezes.

“Hey Yuuji!  Did you need me for something?  Or just killing time?”

She jogs up and puts her hands on her hips and he can’t help but think of her showing up as a Duckling one day dressed as Supergirl with that same pose and he smiles at the memory.

“Library is closed today,” he answers after a minute.

She nods and then considers him for a moment before pointing her thumb over her shoulder.  “Wanna join us?”

“I, uh, don’t really play.”

A volleyball hits the wall nearby and Yui doesn’t even flinch.  An apology rings out a half a breath later.

“Yeah we don’t really play either.  At least not by any real rules.”  She grabs the ball and tosses it back towards the group behind her without looking away from him.  “Sure you don’t want to join in?  I’m always happy to have someone else help me with them.”  

He watches the kids playing - most of them look only a year or two younger than Yui and himself - and debates with himself.  It’s not like he’d get much homework done sitting outside the other gym and even if he stayed in here he’d be sure to get distracted by the laughter and cheers before too long.  But he just isn’t sure enough about what he should do to just say yes.  Yui watches him and then hums in thought.

“You know,” she says, “I could always call in that favor you still owe me.”

“Uh.  Favor?”

“From when I told Kunimi that I was the one who gave Asahi and Tooru the permanent markers and told them to color the pictures on the wall in the living room.”

“Oh.”  Yuuji had completely forgotten he had done that but somehow it doesn’t surprise him that Yui remembers.  “Do I owe you a lot of favors from back then?”  He asks cautiously.

“Guess you’ll just have to hang out with me and find out.”

He stumbles home after Morisuke that night and barely manages to finish eating before dragging himself into bed and collapsing into sleep.  It’s the most restful sleep he’s had in a long time.

 

 

Yuuji still spends most of his time after school in the library but he wanders down to the gym a few times and joins in on whatever games or activities Yui is doing with the kids.  His grades are still fine, his scores are still good, and he got the highest mark in class on the presentation he had given the day before.  Which naturally meant that something was going to go wrong.

They’re playing dodgeball today and he’s been out for awhile, running to grab loose balls when they bounce into the stands or start to roll out the doors or onto the stage.  Yui, naturally, is on the winning team and her laughter and cheering for both sides is the loudest thing in the gym, echoing energetically and filling the gym with sunny noise despite the dreary day outside.  There’s a movement near the door but before he can turn to it he’s distracted by a frustrated shout as one of the kids on Yui’s team gets hit.  Yui comforts the kid even as she exacts revenge and Yuuji is actually pretty glad he got hit out like ten minutes ago.

“I forgot how terrifying she is when it comes to dodgeball,” comes from beside him and he jumps in surprise and spins to see who is there, since the kids are all sitting on the benches once they get hit.  He loses his balance slightly thanks to his spin and stumbles towards the voice.  Then wide shoulders and strong arms and an amused grin twisting into a concerned one register as he comes to a stuttering stop.  Then he tips forward, unable to keep upright.

Daichi steps towards him to help.

There might be a swell of music or flower petals bursting into the air but he doesn’t know because everything in his mind that isn’t already taken up by the fact that Daichi is  _ right there _ is rolling in pain because his nose smashes into the hard curve of Daichi’s shoulder and he can feel the thick warm trickle of blood slipping from his nostril.

“Shit,” Daichi hisses practically in Yuuji’s ear and Yuuji just kind of wants to die right now.  This is not how he imagined reuniting with the boy he married in a backyard playground when he was seven.  “Shit I am so sorry are you okay?  That’s a dumb question you’re bleeding.”  Yuuji pulls away and cups his hand to his face only to have it gently pulled away so Daichi can look at his nose and then pinch the soft part shut.  Daichi guides him to lean his head forward a little and motions for him to take over the pinching.  He’s barely registered that Daichi is away from his side before he’s back with a towel for Yuuji to hold in his hand as he tries to stop the bleeding.  He lets Daichi nudge him towards the far wall, away from the kids, and concentrates on blinking away the tears that are trying to get out.

Yui hurries over a few minutes later while Daichi is hovering worriedly, hands twitching towards Yuuji and then dropping away before twitching again.

“Wow, Daichi,” Yui snorts as she watches Yuuji pinching his nose shut with a grimace, “you sure know how end a conversation before you even start one.”  She looks back and waves when the last kid leaves and then gives Yuuji a concerned look.  “Is it broken or anything?”

“No.  Just bleeding and a little sore,” Yuuji manages to mumble.  He lets go of his nose cautiously and pulls the towel away, dabbing at his nose a few times with the unbloodied edges until it comes away clean.  “Not even bleeding anymore.  We’re good.”  He finally fully registers that Daichi is standing next to him and gasps sharply.  “Is practice over then?  Where’s Morisuke?”

“You’re fine,” Daichi says gently, “practice ended a little early today and Morisuke is staying to help a couple first years with receiving practice and I have been banned from helping because I am, quote, not the libero so I should shut my mouth about receives.”  Daichi’s laugh is even more unfair this close and Yuuji kind of wants to curl up near Daichi and just let that laugh blanket him in warmth and happiness and whatever silly feelings are trying to bubble up in his chest.  He doesn’t really listen to whatever Daichi and Yui are talking about, just their tones and the way they laugh so much.  It reminds him a little of when he and Tetsurou talk and he smiles.  It’s a lot easier for these smiles to happen than he thought it would be.

“I should go check and see if Morisuke’s ready to go.”

 

It’s just over three months since school started and Yuuji thinks that maybe he and Yui are kind of friends.  At least at school.  They don’t really talk about much when they see each other which is fine by him.  But his trips to the gym after school have ramped up to being at least once, maybe twice a week, and she occasionally stops buy his classroom during lunch to ask him a question about some silly topic they had talked about.  Though, true to her word, she doesn’t seek him out in the library and she doesn’t bring up any more about his past other than the occasional shared memory from being a Duckling.  She leaves him alone for the most part and he appreciates that.

Which is why he’s so confused when she storms into his classroom at lunch one day and slaps her hands down on his desk before he can even move. Morisuke’s in the corner but he’s the only other person in the classroom and a hysterical thought runs through his mind and Yuuji wonders if this is how he dies: at the hands of a tiny angry warrior goddess of some kind.

“Why haven’t you asked Daichi out yet?  Or at least talked to him more than to say ‘sorry gotta go’?”

“Daichi?”

“Yes Daichi.  Ennoshita Daichi?  Captain of the volleyball team?  Guy you married on the playground when we were kids?  I was one of the witnesses?”

“Your boyfriend Daichi?”  He finally manages to sputter out, painfully aware of Morisuke in the corner watching everything.  Yuuji wonders if jumping from the window is an option.  He might sprain an ankle but he’s pretty confident in his ability to land for that to be the most damage done to him.

“My boyf-” Yui slaps her forehead and drags her hand down her face with a groan.  “Males,” she grits out, “such dumbdumbs.”

He tenses and shifts in his chair, ready to make a break for whatever exit he can.  Be it the window or the door or maybe just cowering behind his cousin in the corner and hoping either he or Yui just takes pity on him.

“Yuuji,” Yui states, calm and clear and in control and he sinks back into his seat.  “So help me I will crush you with my thighs I swear,” she mutters under her breath as she rubs her temples.

“This really is how I die.”  Yuuji nods to himself, resolute in his fate.

“Am I going to have to fight Yui?”  Morisuke sounds like he’s a little terrified.  Yuuji doesn’t blame him.  “I can’t fight Yui.  She’ll crush me and then Daichi will be mad.”

Yui growls at them both and spins on her heel, sweeping out of the classroom like the warrior queen she is.

 

Morisuke doesn’t ask for clarification, Yuuji thinks he’s still a little worried about potentially needing to fight Yui to protect Yuuji.

Tetsurou, predictably, laughs at him that night when Yuuji calls him and tells him about it.

“She’s terrifying,” Tetsurou states, like it’s not something that Yuuji knows himself.  “I always knew someone that threatened to fight for the chance to be Daichi’s witness in that wedding was a frightening creature.”

“Yeah.  So now that you know and can start writing my eulogy in case of my untimely death can we not talk about me for awhile?  How has school been for you?”

He loses himself in Tetsurou’s voice, filled with the warmth of the main thing that’s gotten him through the last few years: Tetsurou’s friendship.

 

He should have expected something would happen.  Yui was not just going to let it go that easily.  Not now that she knew the main reason he hasn’t talked to Daichi about anything was because he thought Daichi was her boyfriend.  He just didn’t quite expect her to use the kids in the gym as part of her plan.  Though, really, he should have expected it.

Yuuji almost turns around when he steps into the main gym and spots Daichi there as well.  He wasn’t expecting anyone from the team since it was their day off from practices and Yui had gotten permission to use the main gym for her after school group.  So of course that means Daichi is standing there near the benches talking with one of the kids with a serious look on his face.  Before Yuuji can leave with his tail between his legs Yui spots him and calls him over.

“I have decided that you and Daichi are helping me today.  The kids want to play real volleyball for once and he’s the best person to help me.”

“And me?  Do you not remember the first time I came in here?  I don’t really play.”  Yui’s grin tells him she remembers perfectly.

“You, my dear friend, are here because I need backup and because since you married Daichi when you were seven that makes us practically siblings.”  She tugs at his backpack strap to make sure she has his attention.  Since I’m  _ not _ dating him because he’s basically my brother.”

“Subtle,” he grumbles.  Daichi looks over and waves at him before turning his attention back to the kid talking to him.  “Real subtle.”

“I tried subtle.  You were both too dense.  The next step is the cliche locking you in a closet but I know you wouldn’t do well with being forced into something like that.”

“Thanks.”  Yuuji takes a step into the gym and then pauses.  “I think.”  He should probably be a little worried by how much about him she knows and understands after such a short amount of time talking.  But one of the kids calls him over and he leaves his backpack under the bench before jogging over.

It’s not… terrible.  He still does his best to stay out of Daichi’s way, mostly because he really honestly doesn’t know much about playing volleyball other than some basics of how to receive without the ball flying into your face and simple serves - mostly stuff he vaguely remembers from a short volleyball program from his Duckling days.  Daichi is good with the kids and Yuuji isn’t surprised.  Of course he is.  Daichi is too perfect for his own - or Yuuji’s - good.  Though he thinks that maybe with the way he has his own little group of kids bright eyed and laughing surrounding him maybe he’s not doing too bad either.

In the end it’s not the worst thing he’s put up with and Yui gives him an encouraging smile when Daichi strolls over with the ball cart so they can finish cleaning up.  She mysteriously disappears and Yuuji’s pretty sure she’s just relaxing in the supply closet for awhile to give them some space and he’s not sure if he appreciates it or is irritated by her leaving him to flounder by himself.

If Daichi is uncomfortable at all he doesn’t show it.  He seems perfectly happy to push the cart around in silence while Yuuji tosses the volleyballs into it.  There’s a smile resting on his face and his eyes drift slowly around the gym and he’s humming something kind of tuneless under his breath and he looks so at ease here and warm that Yuuji kind of wants to stay here forever.

“You know I think the last time I remember seeing you this content you were petting a dog with a handful of dandelions clutched to your chest.”  The words are out before Yuuji even realizes his mouth is open and his face flares with embarrassment.

“Well we had only been married two weeks and my husband brought me a bouquet of flowers with him after school and we got to hold hands and pet dogs.  How could I not be content?”  Yuuji glances over and just stops.  Stops moving and think and, for a moment, breathing.  Daichi remembers him.  Daichi remembers their wedding.  Daichi is smiling at him, that same beyond happy smile that made Yuuji fall in love with him when he was seven and Daichi had proudly declared that he was going to pet every dog that walked by all the backyards they met up in.  The same smile Daichi gave him when Yuuji brought him candy and dandelion bouquets and drawings he made in school.  The same smile that he had on in the pictures on Yuuji’s desk.  The same smile he wore just before he slid the little pipe cleaner ring onto Yuuji’s finger- which Yuuji totally does not have tucked away in a box filled with treasures and memories from childhood.

“You know,” Daichi whispers like they’re sharing a secret and Yuuji leans towards him a little, “I kept those flowers until they withered and died and I refused to speak to my dad for almost a week after he accidentally threw them away.”

Yuuji bites his lip because the image of little Daichi with his arms across his chest, pouting and refusing to talk to his dad is adorable.  Then he scrunches his face and lets out a defeated whine.

“I still have my certificate it’s sitting on my desk in my room,” he admits in a rush of words, eyes squeezing shut.  He holds his breath, waiting for whatever Daichi’s reaction will be.

“My dad has mine hanging in the living room with all our family and vacation photos.”  Daichi’s soft laugh makes Yuuji crack his eyes open.  “And he refuses to let me take it down, even to put it in my own room.  I think he’s still a little salty over not being able to make it to the ceremony.”  Daichi winks at Yuuji and he’s pretty sure he could die happy right now.

“You guys are already married just ask him out on a date already, Yuuji!”

Yuuji chokes on air and refuses to turn around to give Yui the glare she deserves.  A quick glance up at Daichi’s surprisingly red face lets him know that Daichi is glaring hard enough for the both of them and then Daichi growls a little and turns to him.  Daichi’s expression softens and he gives Yuuji a crooked little grin.

“I am truly sorry for my best friend.  She doesn’t know when to shut up sometimes.  But, you know, that’s part of her charm I guess?”

Yuuji can’t help but think about his own best friend and he shakes his head.  “Don’t worry.  Tetsurou is the same way.  I get it.” 

“So, uh-”  Yuuji takes a deep breath and holds up his hand to cut Daichi off.  He started this, way back when he was seven and Daichi’s smile was the greatest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.  He might as well continue it because Daichi’s smile is still one of the greatest things he’s ever seen.

“I don’t have any dandelions to give you but I promise to let you stop and pet any dogs we see.  So do you wanna go grab something to eat?”

"I'd love to."


End file.
